Ornithology Research

Research projects in the Ornithology department make use of museum specimens as a source for DNA sequence data. These sequences can be used to answer an array of questions in biology, including taxonomy, biogeography, and many aspects of evolutionary history. Ongoing projects cover the last ten million years or so, with a focus on Pleistocene history (e.g., how did the habitat changes that accompanied the glaciers of the Pleistocene affect the distributions of birds?). We are focused on birds in the Appalachians, the Philippines, and several globally distributed birds (pygmy-owls and terns).

Publications

Zink, R. M., A. W. Jones, C. Craig Farquhar, M. C. Westberg, and J. I. Gonzales Rojas. 2010. Comparison of molecular markers in the endangered Black-capped Vireo (Vireo atricapilla) and their interpretation in conservation. The Auk 127:797-806.

Jones, A. W. in press, The Condor. [Book review] Molt in North American Birds.

Tripi, P. A., R. Lee, J. B. Keiper, A. W. Jones, and J. E. Arnold. 2010. Ingestion of a moth cocoon in a 14-month-old girl. American Journal of Otolaryngology 31: 123-6. Ingestion of a moth cocoon in a 14-month-old girl.

Putnam, C. G., A. W. Jones, and R. S. Ridgely.  2009. Documentation of two Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus) specimens from Ecuador. Cotinga 31:130-132.

Jones, A. W. and R. S. Kennedy. 2008. Evolution in a tropical archipelago: comparative phylogeography of Philippine fauna and flora reveals complex patterns of colonization and diversification. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 95: 620-639.

Jones, A. W. and R. S. Kennedy. 2008. Plumage convergence and evolutionary history of the Island Thrush (Turdus poliocephalus) in the Philippines. The Condor 110: 35-44.

Bridge, E. S., G. A. Voelker, C. W. Thompson, A. W. Jones and A. J.Baker. 2007. Effects of Size and Migratory Behavior on the Evolution of Wing Molt in Terns (Sternae): A Phylogenetic-Comparative Study. The Auk 124: 841-856.

J. M. Craine, J. Battersby, A. J. Elmore, and A. W. Jones. 2007. Building EDENs: The Rise of Environmentally Distributed Ecological Networks. BioScience 57: 45-54.

Bridge, E. S., A. W. Jones, and A. Baker. 2005 A phylogenetic framework of the Terns (Sternini) Inferred from MtDNA Sequences: Implications for Taxonomy and Plumage Evolution. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 35: 459-469.

Jones, A. W. 2005. Changes to the Minnesota bird list, 1998-2004. The Loon 76 (4): 182-185.

Zink, R. M. and A. W. Jones. 2004. [Book Review] The Speciation and Biogeography of Birds. The Auk 121(4): 1296-1298.